Dithering Dick

I hope all of you are having a nice fall season. I have to say I’ve been enjoying a pretty good autumn this year. There’s been no election year induced stress from worrying about another presidency stolen by the Republicans. The economy has not been shattered. And we taxpayers have not been extorted by the corporate criminals on Wall Street. Well not lately, anyway.

So I’ve been taking a break from my usual three to four hours of daily news reading and watching. Four hours! Seeing this in print shocks me. Pretty pathetic, and that doesn’t include my Stewart and Colbert viewing. I’ve still been keeping tabs on the imperial circus of permanent war, and the health care debacle, er debate. I’ve learned to not expect any “change” from the US Government, so why fret so much?

Anyway, I’ve been quite happily enjoying a beautiful October. I like spending quiet time sitting on the deck, or walking my German shepherd named Lucy Jean. She keeps me healthy with two or three walks a day, and it’s working out for her as well. She’ll be fifteen years old in December, bless her heart.

And I have been spending some not-so-quiet time too. I have been getting together to play music with old friends, and even some new friends. Most everyone should do more of what they love doing, right? It isn’t complicated, but sometimes we need to be reminded.

Well, today I glanced at the TV only to see the sneering mug of former VP (and still the leading voice of American fascism) Dick Cheney.

In his typical reptilian tone he hissed, "President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission."

Then he snarled, “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity. Make no mistake. Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries."

In less than a hundred words from this lying, cowardly, treasonous war criminal we see the same old bald-faced dishonesty, scapegoating, projection, and blaming of others for his own utter wrongheadedness, malevolence and failure.

In other words, he’s still spewing more of the same, tired, old evil bile. The really sick part of all this is the fact that he is not screaming this from his prison cell. Almost as twisted is the fact that too many Americans still believe this vile crook. Never underestimate American arrogance and ignorance.

Today, National Security Network Senior Adviser and retired General Paul Eaton, who oversaw the training of the Iraqi military from 2003-2004, had something to say about Dick.

"The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11.

"The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan.”

Well said, General. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add my little critique. Shall we dissect this cancerous tumor of Reich Wing contagion, and maybe frame, contain, and contrast it with truth and light?

Let’s start with this “afraid to make a decision” bit. Apart from his blatant and ubiquitous fear mongering, we see the obvious comparison to the sinister and destructive decisions decided by the Big Dick and his Decider. Why can’t Obama decide on a whim the deaths of thousands of innocent human beings? Sounds like some kind of character flaw, eh, Dick?

“While America’s armed forces are in danger.” How’d that happen, Dick? It’s not like you, and somebody you know, were asleep at the switch; and then dismissed the guy who delivered the “Bin Laden planning to strike in the US” August 6th Presidential Daily Briefing with “Your ass is covered,” right?

No, you were too busy thinking up a reason to invade Iraq for oil, profit, and re-election. Oh, and also to put America’s armed forces in danger.

“Unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission." Sort of like you were unable to go to Vietnam to complete the mission, eh, Dick? Of course you had other priorities, didn’t you?

Here’s a good one. “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. It's time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.” You mean the war you and George started but couldn’t finish while you dithered over it for six years?

“It's time for President Obama to do what it takes.” Yes, and realize that agreeing with you, Dick, about it being a war of necessity will be the worst mistake of his life.

And let’s go back to “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.” And what were you up to, Dick, “while America’s armed forces were in danger” during the war in Vietnam? Perhaps you were too busy dithering over your next draft deferment, right, Dick? How about getting a deferment for spawning a hateful voice for the next generation? Liz can cheer on, and then dodge, her generation’s war just like dear old Dad did with his.

We are sick and tired of this Chicken Hawk squawk. Make no mistake, It hurts our allies and emboldens our adversaries, and is a disgrace to every honest, law abiding, peaceful American.

And in one way I agree with Dick about “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.” It’s time to arrest the men who lied to us in order to put those troops in danger. They are war criminals, traitors, torturers, and murderers. Make no mistake.